Vintage 1978 Alaskan Will It Fit?

[drewto]

Looking at restoring a 1978 over the cab Alaskan. My question is will it actually fit on a newer 2000 Chevy pickup with a 48 inch Width between the wheel wells.Also will I run into any truck bed height or width issues? Thanks for any
advice. Drew

 

[DrJ]

Drew,
When I looked at Alaskans previously, I frequently ran into fit problems especially with my chevy. If I had to guess, I would think that it would not fit unless you modified it. A call to Brian at Alaskan will let you know for sure.

 

[thisoldcamper]

I have a similar set-up... a 2001 Chevrolet 2500 and a 1978 Alaskan 8' NCO. I had to remove some of the width of the Alaskan at the boxes behind the wheel wells so that it would fit at the tailgate, but it fit fine between the wheelwells. I also added some 1x4 to the bottom to raise the camper and get a little extra clearance at the bed rails.
Here's a picture of the day I brought it home... I layed 2x6's in the bed and had to hack the roadside box off to get it to fit:

Here's how it fits now:

Check out my blog for more pictures of my restoration

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Nicely restored!!

 

[Rusty]

Ford guy....Same problems with newer models...fit fine between wheel wells but the comode closet/clothes closet area behind the frig had to be reduced by 2.5"

the cab over portion is going to be a fit to model issue with the bed build up...they all vary a bit

 

[Weekrs]

We have a 1978 CO Alaskan Camper 8 ft that fits on our 2010 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD crew cab. It has a 4 inch bed spacer but we could get by with a 2 inch and still clear everything. Here are the measurements I took of the Alaskan. Some may not be exact as they are difficult to get. I have not measured the camper with the top up so not totally sure of how tall it is raised. We have a bump out at the rear that the previous owner put on to accommodate the inside toilet. The camper still fits. Hope this helps.

 

[PackRat]

I have a 1976 Alaskan. Back in those days you could choose to have one made to fit a Stepside or Fleetside style bed. Meaning that the lower section was only 48" wide from front to rear to fit the narrower Stepside bed. As shown above, if the camper was ordered wider to take advantage of the space a Fleetside bed has to the rear of the wheels, you may need to reduce the width of the side bump-outs on the lower section to fit properly into the truck bed.

 

[PackRat]

As a follow-up to my post above, obviously if you ordered a new Alaskan for a step-side truck bed there would not be any plumbing exiting the lower section of the camper on either side except for the overflow and the drain for the fresh water tank, waste water would exit the rear of the camper. By the same token, fresh water intake and sink drain would be located on the flat section of the upper part so it over hangs the truck bed.

Just goes to show you that options were available at least at the Sun Valley shop where my Alaskan was built.